Public gets second chance to pay respects to Kennedy

AP PhotoMembers of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library staff hold vigil in front of the flag draped casket of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy before the doors of the library opened to mourners wanting to pay their respects in Boston Friday morning.

BOSTON -- Sen. Edward Kennedy was there for his constituents for nearly five decades, now they are repaying that loyalty by the tens of thousands.

For the second day, thousands of mourners are expected to pay their final respects to Kennedy on Friday as his body lies in repose at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

The facility was scheduled to open at 8 a.m., but opened early to accommodate the hundreds of people who had lined up well before then. Closing is scheduled for 3 p.m.

"I don't think we'll ever see the likes of him again," said Michelle Romano, 44, of Revere, who showed up with her mother at 7 a.m. to find a line already several hundred people long.

Her mother, Ginger Romano, 67, of Revere recalled running into Kennedy during the Blizzard of 1978, the massive snow storm that paralyzed the Boston area for several days.

As Romano was bringing bags of clothing, blankets and other supplies to Revere High School for people whose homes had been damaged or destroyed in the storm, she tripped over a snow bank. A pair of hands helped her to her feet. It was Kennedy, who had been walking behind her.

"He said to me 'What can I do to help you?'" she said. "Then he thanked me and my family."

Fred Foster, 51, of Boston's Brighton neighborhood said he was directly affected by Kennedy-sponsored legislation.

"A few years ago I was laid off and I continued to have my health insurance because of COBRA, and that's a direct result of what Sen. Kennedy did," he said, referring to the federal program that allows people to retain their former company's health benefits under some circumstances.

More than 21,000 people filed past Kennedy's casket on Thursday. The library was supposed to close at 11 p.m., but the doors were left open until 2 a.m. on Friday.

A private memorial for family and invited friends will be held at the library starting at 7 p.m.

Vice President Joe Biden as well as Sens. John McCain, Orrin Hatch and Christopher Dodd are expected to speak.

A funeral Mass is scheduled for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica in Boston on Saturday. President Barack Obama is expected to deliver the eulogy.

As mourners stood in line for as long as 2½ hours Thursday, members of the Kennedy family, including some grandchildren, came out and thanked them for coming.

"It's just absolutely overwhelming," said Vickie Kennedy, the senator's wife. "The love and support means so much to all of our family. It's very, very moving."

The public event followed a private Mass at the family compound in Hyannis Port, where the senator died of brain cancer this week at age 77. The family watched as the casket was loaded into a hearse for the journey to Boston.

The late senator's loved ones -- including niece Caroline, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, and son Patrick, a Rhode Island congressman -- arrived before noon for the private Mass.

As the motorcade pulled away, Patrick Kennedy sat near tears in the passenger seat of the hearse.

The procession passed many landmarks that were significant to the senator and his family. They included St. Stephen's -- where his mother, Rose, was baptized and her funeral Mass celebrated -- and the building where he opened his first office as an assistant district attorney and where John Kennedy lived while running for Congress in 1946.

Kennedy will be buried Saturday evening near his slain brothers -- John and Robert -- at Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia.